Casals-Muñoz hit with loan lawsuit

While Hialeah Councilwoman Vivian "I'll notarize that!" Casals-Muñoz has publicly denied any ties to su alcaldito Carlos Hernandez in her re-election campaign, she has openly maintained a beneficial relationship with former Hialeah Mayor Julio Robaina, her one-time brother-in-law, freelance banking business partner and political mentor. Robaina has helped her raise funds and has voiced support in robocalls and radio ads.

Now, as of last week, both Roba-y-na' and Casals-Muñoz are named as third party defendants in a lawsuit that claims they conspired to charge 36 percent interest on a mortgage loan. Florida statute states that anything over 18 percent is usury -- or loansharking -- and, thus, illegal.

Documents obtained by Ladra look like someone kept $7,200. Maybe it was Casals-Muñoz or maybe it was Robaina. Maybe it was a little for both.

The plaintiff is Guillermo "Willy" Zuñiga, a one-time city employee fired by Robaina in 2009, who is supporting and regularly seen standing next to former Mayor Raul Martinez -- who is in a heated race against Hernandez for the mayor's seat.  The lawsuit was filed in Miami-Dade County Court Nov. 8 by attorney, Richard Gross, who also happens to represent Martinez.

The motion claims that the two politicos -- principals of the 1st Hialeah Bank of Julito -- and Robaina's wife Raiza "The Fallgirl" Villacis-Robaina conspired "to charge a criminally usurious interest rate (35.73692%) on the loan to Guillermo Zuñiga by overstating... the amount of funds to be paid to Chase/J.P. Morgan, Zuñiga's first mortgage, as $17,335.4`1 when only $10,037.29, at most, was actually paid... with the balance of $7,298.12  being diverted to the benefit of the schemers: RVR Holdings, Raiza Villacis-Robaina, Julio Robaina, C & M Title, Inc. and Vivian Casals-Muñoz."

Indeed, documents in the court filing obtained by Ladra -- the latest motion to answer a December 2010 lawsuit filed by RVR Holdings after Robaina became a player in a federal investigation -- include a settlement statement that shows $17,335 as "payoff of first mortgage loan" and an Oct. 31 letter from Maria Balignase at JP Morgan that indicates only $9,900 on the mortgage, which brought him current (for monthly payments from Sept. 21, 2006 through Aug. 8, 2007) on his deceased father's house on East 23rd Street, That's not paying it off.

When first questioned about it, Casals-Muñoz -- whose hands trembled as she held the documents Ladra showed her -- said Zuñiga got part of the $17,335 given to him. Later, she had one of her new campaign volunteers -- a driver borrowed from the failed "above the fray" fight by third-place candidate and former Sen. Rudy Garcia -- provideme with a 2007 letter from attorney Marshall Watson, representing Chase, that shows a $17,335 total balance due, including escrow installments, attorney's fees, accumulated late fees and foreclosure closing costs.  But still, how come the settlement statement (shown here) shows the whole $17,335 as payoff of the loan? Hmmmm? And what a coincidence (read: not) that it turns out to be a 36 percent interest -- the same magical number reportedly charged to convicted ponzi schemer Luis Felipe Perez by Hernandez and by Robaina for the loans made to him. And she could not provide any checks or other documents that showed how the wire transfer was made.

"The Grand Jury has this file and the pay-off letter," Casals-Muñoz told me as we chatted about it in her campaign office on West 68th Street Sunday morning. She said she gave investigators "boxes" when they asked her, as owner of C & M Title, for "any documents I had in regards to Julio Robaina, RVR Holdings and Recaredo Gutierrez and Luis Feliple Perez." How many boxes? Two boxes? "Boxes," she said. Ten boxes? Because, you know, it makes a difference. "Boxes," she said again. Why is it so hard to get a straight answer?

The councilwoman could not produce the checks or wire transfer copies for the $17,335, saying again, "that file was given to the Grand Jury" and said she had not been served with the lawsui. But Casals-Muñoz -- who has been implicated in the investigation by witnesses I've spoken to who say she came up during their testimony and by a federal investigator who said "her fingerprints are on everything" -- declined when Ladra offered her a chance to make copies of the documents I have and which she evidently had not seen before. "I don't want to deal with Willy Zuñiga. I want my attorney to deal with Willy Zuñiga," she said. When I asked who her attorney was, she said, "I don't know which attorney I'm going to use." What? Does she have a pool of different attorneys or nobody representing her right now at all?

"They need to produce those checks," Gross told Ladra, adding that the the loan was set up by Julio Robaina through his wife's company. "But Raiza had nothing to do with the loan," Gross said, adding that the $4,150 included in the July 2007 letter was paid by them in February when Robaina advanced him $5,000. "Julio told Zuñiga that Vivian had some of his money and he got it from her," Gross said, adding that the conspirators also put both that East Hialeah property and Zuñiga's own Palm Lakes neighborhood house in the mortage deed without his knowledge.

Casals-Muñoz questioned the timing of the motion and said it was politically motivated. But Ladra -- who everyone knows is Danny's dog -- wonders why she didn't get copies of the documents as soon as it was filed. Or why the motion wasn't filed three weeks ago before the first round.

Now that would have been a smart political move. Nah, this is just the latest twist of the ongoing As Hialeah Churns telenovela.

And Ladra predicts it will play on long after next Tuesday -- with or without political persuasions.

Hialeah council losers not ghosts

While all eyes are on the possible mayoral endorsement in the Hialeah runoff election and who former State Sen. Rudy Garcia -- the third place finisher -- will eventually back (if he backs anyone), council candidate endorsements are already being sought and traded.

And there are a couple of surprises, but let's go with the easy one first. Former planning and zoning board member Ramiro Sicre stopped by the campaign office of former Mayor Raul Martinez Wednesday evening and told Martinez he would support him. Sicre told me Martinez is what the city needs now and that he cannot back the incumbent. He also said he had not decided on what council members to support, but Ladra suspects it will be the Back to the Future slate.

Now for the two shockers.

We heard Daisy "Duh" Castellanos say so many bad things about Councilman Pablito "Huh?" Hernandez that we are giving her back her old nickname so they can be a pair again. Besides, she lost her daring. While Ladra didn't think it would be easy to get her behind Frank Lago, who she has been critical of throughout the race, I certainly did not expect this. And while some people who said she has long worked for the Julio Robaina/Hernandez machinery expected it, this is hypocracy at its worst people. Castellanos ran against Hernandez, in part, because he got appointed to the seat she wanted when it was vacated by su alcaldito Carlos Hernandez. She told El Nuevo Herald reporter Enrique Flor that she still is critical of the process "Besides, I've spoken to him and he seems like a noble person who wants to serve the community," Flor quotes her as saying. Two weeks ago, she was calling him immature and said that he had too many conflicts of interests with city business -- as an employee of lobbyist Felix Lasarte -- and had to recuse himself from many important votes. She and I debated whether his appointment was intentional in order to get a smaller pool for those crucial water plant votes. But, now, that after talking to her supporters, she felt Hernandez would be the best choice. he also said so many bad things about absentee ballot queen Sasha Tirador, who she told Ladra called her on the phone to harass her with obscenities and threats and called the police on her husband to have him trespassed from the Hernandez campaign office (this is becoming a habit with them). I am sure she is now saying bad things about Ladra and former State Sen. Rudy Garcia, the mayoral candidate whose tiny coattails she rode, and anybody else who gets caught in the alcaldito and council's crosshairs. What a sell-out. Duh.

And Ladra doesn't know what former cop and Hialeah Housing Authority Danny Bolaños was thinking when he agreed to meet with gunshop owner and permit shirker Tony "Phony" Vega -- whose fast-tracked gun range permits are being investigated by the Miami-Dade Police Public Corruption unit -- and accepted the liar's support. I know that Danny, my favorite candidate, is facing an uphill battle against Councilwoman Vivian Casals-Muñoz, who has the backing of her brother-in-law, former Mayor Julio Robaina and a Republican All Star Legislative team -- State Sen. Rene Garcia and State Reps. Jose Oliva and Eddy Gonzalez, all of whom have reportedly been raising money for her (and there was someone counting checks at her campaign office Friday morning). But Ladra is not sure Tony Phony's endorsement will translate to checks, Danny. He won't bring you more than three votes from his fellow pistoleros photographed here because his votes came from su alcaldito and his ballot broker, Tirador. "Every vote counts," Danny told me later Wednesday night, and he promised there was no deal made for the support. But I still think Phony Vega would only bring him headaches as I suspect that his endorsement was fake, a set-up to hurt him later. Because Vega, like all phonys, cannot be trusted. And you know that, Danny. Tony Phony was squarely with su alcaldito and would do his bidding to get his gun range. He apparently now has the green light to build it -- er, I mean, to make $3,000 worth of "interior alterations." That sounds phony to me (more on that later). I am sure these permits are phony, too

Ladra may have cost Bolaños the nod, however, according to Vega's own snippy text messages. And while Danny may not be too happy with his unpaid number one fan for that, I am fine with it. Sometimes, you have to fall on the sword.

Ladra has been a thorn in Tony Phony's side -- and vice versa -- since she exposed his deal with the devil (read: deal with su alcaldito) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdK4qA3oLNQ). During early voting, he finally admitted to openly supporting Hernandez, who lied (again) in Friday's El Nuevo Herald story when he said he had not supported anyone in the Group 3 race. (And now he is making nice with Casals-Muñoz? Is that part of the deal for the Garcia nod?) But he had. And we have proof of yet another lie. He and his supporters were caught handing out Phony Vega cards, as in the photo here. In the photo below, Tony offers his Phony grin next to Casa Marin owner Diosdado Marin -- who claims to control 651 absentee ballots and supports the incumbent slate (plus former Housing Authority commissioner Lourdes "Who?" Lozano, who came out of nowhere to beat the unbeatable former councilman Alex "The Professor" Morales (who is seeking Group 1 candidate Fernando Alvarez's support through mutual friends but not Jesus Novo's because he is a plantidate likely thrown into the race by su alcaldito). Come to think of it, Vega didn't like that post about the alliance with Hernandez, either. I think Vega lied (again) when he said he was a fan. Here is an exchange of text messages between him and Ladra that began after that post when he and the mayor made their mutual admiration "news":

Vega at 11:13 a.m. Oct. 28: Loved the cortadito today!!! I can tell that my win is going to hurt you so brace for the impact! I'll expect my call on a timely manner to congratulate me!

Me at 9:51 p.m., Nov. 1 (because he doesn't pick up the phone or call back): "So... do you still feel so cocky? I expect a call in a timely manner to accept defeat."

Vega at 10:17 p.m. Nov. 1: "Yes well.. I've learned lots which will help in other races, for a total novice I got alot of bang for my buck. Now whom do I endorse???"

Me at 10:55 p.m. Nov. 1: "You got a lot of ABs from Carlos' support. You might not have that in other races."

Vega at 10:56 p.m. Nov. 1: "Good night."

Me at 10:57 p.m. Nov. 1: "It is for me." (Because at least that tiny part was).

Me at 12:09 p.m. Nov. 2: "You know, after thinking about it, I realized you got Danny into the runoff... thanks!"

Vega at 12:12 p.m. Nov. 2: "Elaine, I just left a meeting with Danny where we discussed me endorsing him. I said yes. Your continued jabbing has caused me to reconsider the swing of my 6,000 votes."

Vega at 12:23 p.m. Nov. 2: "Ok I've considered it enough. I won't be endorsing anybody for group 3. Thanks for helping me with my process. Explain that to Danny."

Me at 1:57 p.m. Nov. 2 (after I got over the shock when Danny confirmed it): "Those are/were Carlos' votes. Not sure your nod is going to help so if I messed that up, yay! I don't want him muddied up by your conflicts & corruption."

Me at 3:46 p.m. Nov. 2: "Which, by the way, I am going to keep covering."

Vega at 9:38 a.m. Nov. 3: "It's over! Raul and his team are back to retirement. Deals are cut."

Me at 10 a.m. Nov. 3: "Huh? What are you talking about? Can you just call me?"

Vega at 10 a.m. Nov. 3: "Have fun!"

Vega at 10:01 a.m. Nov. 3: "Just wait and watch."

Me at 10:08 a.m. Nov. 3:  "Yeah, because your predictions are always so on target!"

Me at 10:09 a.m. Nov. 3: "How's your gun range coming along?"

Me at 10:53 a.m. Nov. 3: "Hello?"

That's the last Ladra heard from Tony "Phony" Vega and she can't help but wonder if he knows something about the A Mano Limpia show with Garcia and if there were expectations he would endorse su alcaldito. Then again, he always makes stuff up.

But I promise it is not the last Tony "Phony" Vega has heard from me.

Or the last you have heard of him.

Su Alcaldito accuses me of theft

As if his alcalditowear has something more than a nostalgic and comic value, Hialeah's alcaldito Carlos Hernandez went bonkers Saturday -- the last day of early voting at the JFK library -- when he saw me walking by with one of his campaign t-shirts.

"She stole my shirt. Call the police," he told his assistant, Arnie Alonso, who had offered (probably as a joke) to give me a shirt. But being the political junkie I am, and a collector of political memorabilia, I said I absolutely wanted a shirt. "Will you wear it," Alonso asked. "Nah. But I want it for my collection. I have a [Miami-Dade Mayor] Carlos Gimenez shirt and a shirt from Katie Edwards failed bid for state rep last year and a couple of others." I also collect signs, I told him, and would love to have one of su alcaldito's -- but with the mirrors on it (supposedly to ward off the evil eye).

Alonso, who has been a good sport during this week of early voting. Maybe he sees the writing on the wall like Council President Isis "Gavelgirl" Garcia-Martinez did when she walked off for a private chat with former State Sen. Rudy Garcia, who is running to unseatsu alcaldito. But Alonso is in trouble anyway right now for giving me that t-shirt. Alcaldito had a cow.

"She stole my shirt," he told Alonso as he rushed over to get someone to confiscate it from me.

"I need that shirt back. Call the police and write a report," su alcaldito instructed Alonso.

"No, I gave it to her," Alonso said, because he doesn't lie, at least not all the time, like his boss.

"Why did you give it to her?"

"It's okay," Alonso said, trying to calm him down. "She can't do anything with your shirt. It's ok."

"I don't want her to have my shirt."

Really? Really? What is he? Six years old?

"I'm not going to do voodoo or anything with your shirt. I'm not santero like you," I told him, referring to the mirrors on his signs and the broom and recogedor in front of his camionsito, which is also a Santeria religion custom.

"No, that's Raul's people," su alcaldito said, in reference to photos posted by council candidate Tony Vega's supporters that infer that Barbara Hernandez, president of the employees union (which this week gave Martinez their endorsement), was providing former Mayor Raul Martinez some spiritual leverage the other day -- as if he needs it.

Su Hialeah Alcaldito's changing hair

The campaign must be taking a toll on su Alcaldito Carlos Hernandez. While he has been perfectly coifed lately, and is known to use Grecian Formula or L'oreal or some such product to color his hair, Hernandez had some very evident gray roots showing Thursday as he trolled, er, I mean strolled around the parking lot at the JFK libary in Hialeah where early voters have cast more than 2,500 votes.

But by the time he made it to Oscar Haza's A Mano Limpia show on MegaTV, he had apparently -- and messily -- touched up. And, for your pleasure dear readers, Ladra brings you the before and after photos. This is before, with the white shirt and the gray hairline. The after photos have him in a suit with a blue shirt and yellow tie.

Could it be that Hernandez -- who likes to show off his bulging biceps with tight muscle shirts and unnecessary flexing when he hands out his campaign card -- is a little vain and self-conscious?

Ladra mentioned the gray showing at the JFK library, but I was just trying to break the ice. I mean, if Council President Isis "Gavelgirl" Garcia-Martinez can make nice and be civil to me, you would think that the man running for mayor would be, well, less like a 5th grader at the school yard. I guess Gavelgirl is the bigger man of the two. "Get away from me," is all he ever says. To me. He talks big when he talks about me to other people. At the Oscar Haza A Mano Limpia show where the three mayoral candidates (George Castro doesn't couldn't) debated (more on that later), he first tried to have me thrown out of the studio, where I was invited by other journalists to watch the debate live and in person with other journalists (they refused) and then, during a break in the live TV for commercials, quipped to former Mayor Raul Martinez, the front runner in the race who makes a full head of gray look cool, that I was his paid staffer. Martinez shrugs because he knows he doesn't pay me -- and couldn't possibly afford the value I bring to this campaign for both him and former State Sen. Rudy Garcia, the other mayoral candidate -- and so does su alcaldito, he just has nothing else to say.

Instead, Hernandez should have used the break to ask Martinez who does his hair. But maybe it's Felipito's mom.

Alcaldito, J Martinez share $ sources

While the Back to the Future crew, under the leadership of former Mayor Raul Martinez, have shunned funds from the maquinita industry, there is one slate mate who has jumped ship: former Mayor Julio Martinez, once a foe now a friend, has taken at least $1,500 from companies with maquinita permits who have also donated to the campaigns of the current and past administration.

But those are not the only contributions Julio "The Replacement" Martinez shares with el alcaldito Carlos Hernandez and former mayor Julio Robaina, who funded a $3.5 million+ bid for the county mayor's job that he lost at the 11th hour. There are contributions from Sergio Pino's companies as well and some of the same construction and management or real estate interests with bundled contributions: $2,000 in 10 $200 checks from Evelio Garcia and family and companies and $2,000 from developer Domingo Pando and his, for example. Benajamin Leon of Leon Medical Centers and his companies and relatives gave at least $1,500 in $500 maximum gifts. There is also $3,000 in six $500 contributions from firefighter locals across the county and their PACs, likely encouraged by the increasingly influential Hialeah fire union, which gave Julio Martinez their endorsement and collected funds for the other Back to the Future friends (but were unpleasantly surprised to hear of his monetary support base).

Julio Martinez's campaign reports are interesting reading. He has a $250 contribution from former Miami City Manager Jose Garcia-Pedrosa and $1,000 from Alex "No Pagues Ese Ticket" Hanna. Most intriguing, however, is a $250 contribution from Re Gu Records, owned by Recaredo Gutierrez, who borrowed money at high interest from former Mayor Alex Penelas, and soon-to-be former alcaldito Carlos Hernandez and Councilwoman Vivian Casals-Muñoz in a shadow banking industry that has been exposed by the media and a self-proclaimed music producer from Las Vegas (read: maquinitas). Gutierrez did not want to talk to Ladra about the loans -- which he is reportedly still making payments on, payments that may not be reported -- and was unhappy I called Wednesday morning. "Frankly, I don't have anything to say about any of this," said Gutierrez, who noted a $50,000 debt to el alcaldito when he claimed bankruptcy (which came out in the Miami Herald's shadow banking story before the mayoral primary). "I am a businessman with a low profile and I don't need to be involved in this. I am not a public person. And I would ask you not to call me again." (But there will be more later anyway.)

Julio Martinez told me, basically, the same thing he told the Miami Herald's editorial board: that maquinita money is as good as any other money."As long as they are legal, I am in favor," Martinez said in a telephone interview Wednesday morning, completely aware that the boss frowns upon the industry. "I don't want Hialeah people to get picked up on buses and taken to the Indians who don't give anything back to Hialeah. When they become illegal, I'll be against them."

As for Gutierrez, Martinez said he knew him only as a maquinita interest (told ya) and didn't know about the West Dade man's loans with Hernandez and Casals-Muñoz. "I didn't know they were in business." He seemed to put little weight on the fact that Gutierrez is also supporting Hernandez's campaign.

While surprised about the contributions from what would seem like tainted sources, the other Martinez shrugged off the seeming conflict of interest. "They know each other from before," he said about Gutierrez. "And Julio is wrong on the maquinitas, but I can't tell him not to accept checks."

Yes, you can. That's why you are the boss. Try it like this: "Hey, blockhead! Stop taking tainted money from the crooks who want to keep el alcaldito in power so they can keep the status quo. You don't need that extra baggage."

Because, Raul, you don't need that extra baggage.

City paid for campaign pancakes

Two weeks after that infamous lunch with senior residents from public housing at IHOP -- you know, where Alcaldito Carlos Hernandez insulted balseros and divorced women and Council President Isis "Gavergirl" Garcia-Martinez had a hissy fit when we caught her in a blatant lie -- we still don't know what the real cost was and who paid for the city-promoted event, which was really a campaign stop for su alcaldito and his incumbent slate. Was it an "anonymous donor" who footed the bill, as was first claimed, or it was it on the taxpayers' tab? We still don't know. When we ask the actual alcaldito and the council members live and in person, their lips are sealed (unlike at IHOP). But the official story from their mouthpieces and go-betweens keeps changing, too.

So, who paid for lunch?

At first, the mayor's campaign director and absentee ballot queen Sasha Tirador said repeatedly that the lunch was paid for by an "anonymous" donation to the special events department for such events and that the donor did not want to be known for fear of retribution (an inadvertent admission that even their camp believes former Mayor Raul Martinez will return). I believe Council President Isis "Gavelgirl" Garcia-Martinez may have said so also. On the radio. An invoice from the restaurant is addressed to the city, but it does not indicate where the funds came from. The bill was $500 for 50 pancake combos including drinks at $10 per person (though I don't think there were 50 senior residents there. Let's count them in our popular video -- destined to be a greatest hits -- by my new best friend, cameraman Raul "El Toro" Torres: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1-A38ekCUk.). The bill from IHOP was sent to the city's communications and special events department and the check request is from Education and Community Services (the new umbrella for the special events department, which is code for political PR department). The event is called an "adult center program" and there is no reference to the alleged "anonymous" donor that supposedly did not want to be named. Ladra wants to know -- no, scratch that -- needs to know who the "anonymous donor" is (or, conversely, why anyone felt the need to lie about that). It could be relevant if it turns out to be one of the alcaldito's big financial supporters on his campaign like Robertico Blanco or Herman Echevarria or, even, Julio Robaina. Wouldn't that be relevant? The source of funding could further show -- not that there really needs to be any more nails in that coffin -- that the city-promoted, staff-supported event was a campaign stop in disguise. That's why I pressed Hernandez and the others about it. Now that the story has changed and it looks like the check came out of the general fund, then it is a taxpayer-funded, city-paid event for campaign purposes and su alcaldito and his incumbent-slate-minus-one used city resources to woo voters. City funds, city staff, city vehicles.

The event was supposed to be an unveiling of eight new circulator buses from the county. But two weeks later, those buses are not on Hialeah streets. They're parked in a fleet maintenance yard, out of service. Why would you unveil buses that won't be in use for five or six weeks? That's how long it will take, said City Attorney Bill "Go-Between" Grodnick, in a clumsy stab at an explanation about titles from the county and whether or not they were going to get the title or leave it with the county. Or something. I am not making this up. Look at the video by Raul Torres: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajMsx0InXt4

So, this hasn't been decided yet and you unveil the buses? Really? Really? It isn't because there wouldn't be a campaign opportunity when they are ready three or four weeks from now, is it? Because if he waited until the buses were actually ready, su alcaldito wouldn't be able to "maximize the exposure," (read: milk the spin) as Grodnick said -- finally, some truth -- when he answered for the mute mayorette for the I-don't-know-whath-time at Tuesday's council meeting (more on that later). But nobody, not even Grodnick, could answer the basic question that we still have after 14 days: Who paid for lunch?


Gavelgirl said everybody knew that and suggested I be more specific with my questions of the city clerk's office. (Read: "Next"). Okay, next it is. Because now I'm not satisfied with this one alleged anonymous pancake party patron, if indeed there ever was one. Now Ladra wants a list of all, anonymous or not anonymous, donations, gifts, grants or contributions of any kind to any department, division, office or officer or any part thereof in the city or any quasi-independent agency, such as Hialeah Housing by or from or through any person, group of persons, any corporation, any non-profit, or any entity of any kind since January 1 of this year. And where those monies were applied. I want to get information, which could be verbal if someone is allowed to speak with me, about the process by which donors contribute to these events and whether or not there is criteria. I also want to know what the city paid in gas, salary for the five or six or more employees that were there woofing down their own pancake combos at IHOP two weeks ago and any other costs associated with that particular roadtrip event. I'm making a public records request for the photographs and video that the city recorded of the event and will ask for those. To see if they match up with any campaign ads. Because the event was definitely a political campaign stop on what I now call (thanks, Bill) the "maximize the exposure" tour (more on that later).

My man 'El Toro' even has, on video, some campaign literature on a table that would have been taken out if we had not been there. A man entered the IHOP with a Hernandez for mayor t-shirt and was told to remove it. Then he became very aggressive with us both at IHOP and the next day at the Gus Machado Ford on West 49th Street when I went to speak on a live radio broadcast to counter su alcaldito's lies. This guy with the t-shirt incident said, and it was recorded by Telemundo 51, that "it was a political meeting."

Bingo. Told ya.

And if it is a political meeting being paid for with city funds and/or it is being attended by city staff on city time, it is not only a political meeting, but an illegal political meeting. Maybe Internal Affairs should investigate that.

Maybe then they can tell us who really paid for lunch: The taxpayers.

Hialeah council's criminal cuts

Just when you thought the election season in Hialeah could not get more surreal, the Seguro Que Yes council passed su alcaldito Carlos Hernandez's bogus 2011-2012 city budget Wednesday night calling for the illogical and unnecessary termination of 105 of 271 firefighter paramedic positions despite a packed house of protestors and a barrage of honest, researched, logical and impassioned pleas from residents, employees, firefighters, police officers and children -- and without asking a single real, legitimate question. That practiced-in-front-of-the-mirror peppering by Councilwoman Vivian Casals-Muñoz does not count. All she did when she asked smirky questions she knew the answers to already was present a premeditated and written justification of her eventual Oui nod-and-bob to help her at the ballot. Watch for some of that dramatic "challenging" to come out in her literature or campaign speeches.

The rest of the council was as criminally negligent to their community as she was when they sat silent and did not give anyone in the audience the courtesy of answering one question. How would this affect response times? Silence. How would this affect services? Silence. Has this 40 percent cut in fire rescue personnel been analyzed to predict or forecast potential ramifications? Silence. How many firefighters are needed, mimimum, to keep the city safe? Silence. Where are the operational plan and the reorganizational chart that go with these cuts, both public records that were requested Monday? Silence. In fact, Council President Isis "Gavelgirl" Garica-Martinez spoke more when she was ejecting four or five of the objectors (including yours truly) from the council chambers or from the building as she and her colleagues ignored laws, constitutional rights, Robert's Rules of Order and legal processes to make strategic campaign platform speeches about a month from Election Day. And alcaldito Hernandez left the dais again in the middle of a public budget hearing, in the middle of someone's comments, snubbing residents and employees he shows no respect for, so he could give TV interviews (read: campaign for votes). Really? Ladra has a question (well, another one): Is this the way elected officials should act?

Just another day in the Hialeah races.

Wednesday's bogus budget hearing has been called a circus, a joke, a train wreck, a show. But Ladra's favorite was a crime. Because what this council did when they rubberstamped the budget they know is false and full of holes just has to be criminal. It's fraud. It's robbery. It's abuse of power. It's all of that and it's blackmail and extortion, too. Because the firefighters who went armed with truth and the support of the community were told they could make the layoffs, at least the immediate ones, go away. Disappear. Just like that. If, of course, they agreed to an offer from the city that was made in writing on Monday, more than two months after the administration prematurely declared another impasse during a bargaining session, which is the appropriate setting for a new contract offer, and at which this offer was never made.
It's not that the firefighters would not consider giving up holiday pay. Union President Mario Pico -- speaking to reporters outside the chambers after he, too, was thrown out when he challenged the criminal lies at the hearing -- has repeatedly said that the firefighters -- many of whom have been serving Hialeah longer than some council members -- are willing to make sacrifices to help the residents preserve their quality of life. They simply want transparency and the comfort of knowing they didn't sell everything they had to earn to keep giving funds away to questionable quid pro quos and that they won't have to do it again next year because there is a solid recovery plan. Hernandez and his herd should applaud them for that. Everyone who has watched this 2 1/2 year process -- in which the city has been found guilty twice of unfair labor practices, declared impasse three times and illegally fired 17 firefighters to try to affect the contract vote (a decision that cost the taxpayers $800,000 in overtime plus the backpay they are now ordered to provide for the 16 firefighters they were ordered to hire back) -- knows it wouldn't be that easy, though, and that the city only made that phony offer because they know it can't be accepted without going back to the table, where they intend to add a few more demands, of course, but don't want to have to show nada to justify it. All that offer is, in truth, is an illegal and improper 11th hour Hail Mary pass made publicly to save el alcaldito and the incumbent candidates from the critical backlash and career-ending fallout their dubious and dumfounding decision has already had. This phony profer, which would have saved only $1.3 million when the city last week was demanding cuts to "balance the budget" that totaled more than $7 million, is a bait and switch con job and Ladra would not be surprised if it was not planned all along. It is not the only thing the council will need, but if the firefighters had conceded, they would have claimed victory and use the contrived "compromise" to promote their questionable candidacies.

Councilman Luis Gonzalez -- who probably drew the short straw because he is not on the Nov. 1 ballot -- actually took the opportunistic liberty to ask about the offer (read: campaign stunt) in a question to the mayor that was obviously staged for the benefit of the TV cameras. It was such a set-up for su alcaldito to start proliferating on how he was willing to negotiate and trying to protect the residents with this offer, that Ladra could not control her bark and was tossed from the council chambers -- and the building -- again for speaking out of turn. I take whole responsibility. Something the Seguro Que Yes mess could learn to do. I know I wasn't supposed to object, but I found the scene ridiculously abusive. And someone had to stop that charade. "Excuse me, the councilman can't make an offer here at a budget hearing. Or in that letter you sent," I interjected. "That is why there is a bargaining process." Council President Isis "Gavelgirl" Garcia-Martinez warned me to stop talking. But Gonzalez -- after regañando me with a whiny "I don't even know who has the floor" -- went on with his pre-scripted, made-for-TV effort to give el alcaldito his two-cent soundbite. There was no way this watchdog was going to let that happen. "I'm sorry but he simply cannot make an offer like that from the dais," I said again, asking deputy city attorney Lorena Bravo, who sat in for William "Go-Between" Grodnick on his paid Jewish holiday, to advise them that a contract offer in this venue (read: political campaign stunt) would be illegitimate. She did, actually, eventually. And I applauded -- as I was led out of the chambers by a police officer on order by Police Chief Mark Overton, who later trespassed me from the building -- even before I received the public records I requested about Ladra's first-ever trespass warning at the Hernandez et al campaign office opening Sept. 10. This time, they didn't give me a case number but maybe it was because Overton (who las malas lenguas say is looking to get a job in Broward county) realized he stepped in it and sent a sergeant to tell me once I was outside the building -- yes, escorted outside the building by three police officers -- that I could return to the lobby only and only if I behaved. Yeah, this is the thanks I get for basically helping them out by pointing out a mistake they were about to make.

But while it is fun to watch former Mayor and current mayoral candidate Raul Martinez consistently show all the council members up on budget issues with trick questions they fail every time and it's entertaining to watch former councilman and current candidate Alex Morales teach them a lesson or two at every meeting, you don't have to be a professor or a successful administrator for a quarter of a century to know more about the council membrane's jobs and roles than they do. Even a watchdog and one pissed off, redneck firefighter and a whistleblower cop and a single mom and a pre-teen child -- who got a standing ovation when he told them that if they were in school, "you would get an F in budget" -- know more than these bobble heads.

Pathetic. Sad. Unacceptable (read: rejectable come November). And it has to be criminal. It just has to be abuse of power when the city administration suddenly finds $3.5 million in cost reductions from one budget hearing to the next in order to make this hollow campaign season offer. That just has to be a crime. They are holding the citizens and the people who work in Hialeah hostage for their personal and political gain. That just has to be a crime. They make up positions and programs to pad the budget in other areas so they can dip into these funds later on down the year. That just has to be a crime. They give away fist over fist of taxpayer funds by awarding millions of dollars in no-bid contracts and change order increases for campaign contributors. That just has to be a crime. They hide monies and change the story every other day from surplus to deficit to surplus to shortfall. That just has to be a crime. They intentionally turn their heads to the poor math skills, gaping holes and padded pillows all over the budget presented as a "budget in stages" -- a new term nobody has ever heard of that was invented for convenience. Let's call it a pretend budget instead. That just has to be a crime. And they commit all these crimes against the residents and their own employees while risking the lives and property of the taxpayers who pay their $44,000-a-year salaries and the salaries of their assistants and their multiple lackies and botella friends. That just has to be a crime.

Ladra felt uncomfortably and uncharacteristically numb for several hours after she left the scene of the crime Wednesday night and took a walk for a cortadito, dark, like the night. It is almost time to get ready for the next day and I still can't believe sometimes that it wasn't all a nightmare. Because how could anyone get away with so much? Where's the cavalry? And just where were our other electeds that should be representing Hialeah's people against the criminals? Miami-Dade District 13 Commissioner Esteban Bovo, State Sen. Rene Garcia (R, District 40) and State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez (R, District 102) did not return my calls and were absent at both the first and second readings (read: accessories before, during and after the fact). So was former State Sen. Rudy Garcia (R, District 40), who is running for the mayor's seat also but has been criticized for not having attended one meeting or voiced one concern over the aforementioned crimes. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez has been a busy bureaucrat with his own budget, but has anyone at the county given a thought to or looked at how Miami-Dade taxpayers could be impacted when the Hialeah council starts stealing their service providers to cover for a fire rescue department that was decimated for political retribution motives. That just has to be a crime.

After all, somebody -- or some body --  has to be held responsible if even one person dies as a result of longer response times or decreased services caused by these unnecessary cuts. Because that really has to be a crime.

Ladra calls it political homicide.

Alcaldito plays with fire, again

We saw this coming. We told everyone that this alarmist threat to fire 105 of 271 firefighter paramedics in Hialeah was blackmail, or extortion (you pick your term), and that the very politicians who proposed it would come in at the 11th hour with a salvation plan or last-minute Holy Mary pass.

But I didn't imagine the scare tactic would be so obviously revealed. Or is it me? You be the judge, dear readers.

On Monday, a day after El Nuevo Herald reporter Enrique Flor published a story based on a source's [conveniently-placed] tip about the city's offer to renew negotiations with the firefighters union, union representatives actually got a letter expressing this offer from City Attorney Bill "Go-Between" Grodnick, who as a legal representative of the city knows that neither the letter nor the deal uttered at a public budget hearing are legitimate or proper offers in the labor bargaining process that has been halted by a declaration of impasse on the city's behalf. Nah. This is obvious campaign strategy. So the city attorney is playing politics now at the behest of su alcaldito Carlos Hernandez while accusing others of doing it (Can he be disbarred for any of this? Where do we complain?). The letter comes two days before the final public hearing where the Seguro Que Yes council is poised to pass a bogus budget that cuts 40 percent of the fire rescue staff and -- again, this is odd for a city official -- whines about not getting calls returned. It's even odder from the city official who prematurely declared impasse less than two hours into the last negotiation session in July. This is becoming a broken record. Union President Mario Pico told Hernandez at the budget hearing that he would meet with him at his earliest convenience. "We can go get a cafecito right now after the meeting," Pico said. "I don't want coffee, Mr. Pico," the mayor said, adding that he preferred to meet the next day. But he never made good on that because by then the TV cameras were gone. So, on Saturday, someone in the administration leaks the story to El Nuevo. On Monday, Grodnick sends the letter with the new offer, which is basically that in exchange for giving up holiday pay for 11 days, they can keep not only the 14 firefighters who would have been fired Oct. 1 but also the nine recruits at the academy that the city has already invested in.

But is it legitimate? Or is it a bait-and-switch hat trick (read: campaign stunt)? Because how can this be a possible solution if the holiday paycut will only save about $1.3 million and the budget, to be balanced, calls for more than $7 million cut from the fire department. Where did the city all of a sudden find another $5.5 million? "I can't give you the details because I was not involved in it. But significant operational and costs savings were made," Grodnick told me on the telephone, in a very proud tone. "We made substantial inroads in savings. Of the $7.5 million, half was saved through cost reductions in other changes." Really? Someone found $5 million worth of "cost reductions" that were not apparent two weeks ago, when su alcaldito threatened to fire 105 firefighters. Or is this offer just for that first phase of the "budget in stages"? Are there still going to be 35 layoffs Dec. 1 and 35 more next year? That was the original plan and it would also serve to delay the overwhelming negative reaction su alcaldito has been getting, even from his supporters, until after Election Day? It would also delay the mandatory return of $1.8 million in federal homeland security grants for minimum staffing until after Election Day. Yes, Grodnick said. Those terminations are still on the table. "We hope to cut the other $3.5 million during the year through concessions in the fire department or further workforce reductions. But we hope and sincerely expect to come to an agreement once we get through the political season," Grodnick told me. Really? I thought this was going on for two and a half years?

This is the longest shell game Ladra has ever watched and this dog is getting dizzy

After I asked for details on these "significant operational savings" (one would think Grodnick could recite one or two if they were so significant), Grodnick told me to call Fire Chief Marco de la Rosa. "I can't talk to you about that. That was done through the fire chief and the OMB [Office of Management and Budget] Director." But the fire chief didn't seem to know about his own amazing "significant cost reductions" that saved his department's positions (at least for now). "I have to see what operational plan he is speaking to," de la Rosa said, buying some time and seemingly satisfied with the city offer (Ladra can't help but wonder if he was the tipster). "It's the same offer made at the council meeting, which was stated publicly." And when asked why savings of $1.3 million are suddenly enough, de la Rosa said "at least the partial costs are deferred through the holidays." He then said he had to get permission from su alcaldito before he could speak with me anymore about the "significant costs savings" in his department's operational plan and the re-organizational structure plan. But he is not, apparently, go-between material like Grodnick: When I called him back about a half an hour later, he told me he had been told not to provide me with any information. "As per direction of the mayor, all budgetary questions are referred to his office," de la Rosa said. I had already left two messages with someone at the mayor's office Monday, as I have done nearly every day in the last two weeks. But I likely will not get a call back. And I may ask him in person when I see him at City Hall, but he will likely ignore me again. So Hernandez won't answer questions and won't allow de la Rosa, Budget Director Alex Vega, Finance Director Vivian Parks or Water and Sewer Director Armando Vidal to clarify questions about the budget. That means that nobody gets to know what we are dealing with. And that's exactly what the fire union is facing and has been facing for two and a half years. No answers to real questions of substance. No checks or balances. (We have filed a public records request, but history has shown us not to hold our breath).

Hernandez does have the time and werewithal, however, to record misleading robocalls paid for by his mayoral campaign account and leave messages for residents sullying Pico's good Winnie-the-Pooh name. He has time to make up outright lies, saying the firefighters want to raise taxes "to protect their juicy benefits." His emphasis, not Ladra's. But the strong mayor (yeah, I did a double-take, too) won't negotiate with them himself. He won't meet cara a cara, at the table with rolled sleeves, ready to do what is necessary. The firefighters, many of whom live in the city and others who have served residents for decades, do not want anyone to raise taxes. In fact, they believe the city does not have to. They just want to stop frivolous spending and corruption. And they know that if the city loses its Class 1 rating, insurance rates could go up and Hernandez can claim no accountability yet again. Su alcaldito is desperate, meanwhile, to keep his $190,000-a-year job ($244,000 if you count his pension, since he is making a campaign issue of it) and has resorted to campaigning against the firefighters because its trendy and he has to rail against someone. He's lost both the TV and radio debates with co-candidates: former State Sen. Rudy Garcia, (R, District 40) and former Mayor Raul Martinez. And he likely fears the planned live radio debate with Pico Wednesday morning on Actualidad Radio (1020 AM) because Pico (who is not a candidate but will still beat su actor alcaldito) brings documents and asks specific questions Hernandez won't or can't answer. Truth is on Mario Pico's side.

But while Hernandez will pontificate perfidiously in public, el alcaldito sends the go-betweens to negotiate his will so he can later claim ignorance when they botch things up -- as they have so many times. Shall we count the ways? The most recent finding of sufficient cause from state regulators came last week and the fire union can file a complaint about what is clearly a premature impasse (the third in this process, which has clearly been prolonged by the city). How can you say it wasn't premature when even you are still willing to negotiate, Bill? Or was that also blackmail and extortion to get the firefighters at the table in a disadvantaged position? Was it extortion when former mayor Julio Robaina tells the union reps (who have it on video) that if they just shut up and bend over, the city will rehire the 16 firefighters that were illegally fired to influence a union vote (the same firefighters that have not been made whole yet even though the city was legally ordered to backpay them for those five months they sat at home and were covered with other staff on overtime)? Because every time su alcaldito and Go-Between Grodnick say it's been two and a half years of negotiations, they forget to say the part about how the city is the one that has thwarted any real dialogue with hostility and heavy-handed tactics. They also forget to add that during that time, they have been found to violate fair labor practices not once, but twice. It's been two and a half years because of them, not because of the firefighters who simply asked to see the books that show the city needs them to sacrifice so that political pals can keep getting juicy no-bid contracts (that emphasis is mine) and cronies who crank it out for their campaigns keep getting "salary adjustments." It's been two and a half years because there is no transparency about the numbers and the figures that are presented change from day to day. It's been two and a half years because city administrators have dug in their heels and won't show their real financials or even present a recovery plan so the community is not faced with this again in 12 and 24 and 36 months.

Thank goodness we have the firefighters answering a different kind of emergency in the city. They are performing a different kind of triage. The victim is the community at large and the sickness is the corruption, lack of transparency and conflicts of interest that spread like cancer at City Hall. Rather than take their medicine to cover up the symptoms, the firefighters want to treat the disease -- perhaps even remove the tumor -- so that the patient can live and thrive again for many more years. They have sacrificed their own time to educate the public and the union leaders have sacrificed their personal lives to defend not just their own, but the entire city, and fight for what's right.

And for this, they are heroes once more.

They are certainly not the politicians that bargain-rate politico pretenders try pathetically to paint them as.

Police lives in danger with layoffs

Ladra has provided this space to republish a blog post by Hialeah Police Officer Antonio "Sergeant" Luis about alcaldito Carlos Hernandez's proposal to fire 105 of 271 firefighters -- which puts patrol officers at risk.

The whole thing can be found at http://forums.leoaffairs.com/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=121125, but here are a couple of the best graphs:

"Afternoon shift two major traffic accidents occur 15 minutes apart, one in sector 5, the other in sector 1. Just about that time a small kitchen fire happens in sector 3. While all that is going on, an officer gets into a shooting. How long will it take a fire department with 40% less manpower take to get to that officer? Wait a second all the fire units in the city are tied up.

"Do not be fooled for one second OUR LIVES are in danger if the city goes through with this. This cannot be allowed to occur."

The date and time of the final budget hearing at the end has been changed from Sept. 26 to Sept. 28, but the rest of the post from this 13-year veteran -- who has been put through hell for denouncing political favoritism and is fighting injustice in his own department -- is right on target.

Mayor's lies must be challenged

Let's add another tall tale to the long list of lies Hialeah's alcaldito Carlos Hernandez wants to feed his constituents: The firefighters threatened with mass firings want to raise taxes and won't make a deal.

What a crock from the man they call "the Rock." But get used to it. He is truth challenged. The firefighters fight this emergency with the truth and have been handing out flyers telling residents and business leaders about the mayor's dangerous plan of political retaliation. Alcaldito only has lies to give the hundreds of citizens who have called to demand that he keep the firefighter staff as is.

The mayor's office is actually telling these hundreds of callers to call the fire union instead. "Call Mario Pico," one woman told me when I called, "and ask him why the union does not want to come to an agreement with the city." Other callers are told to call the fire union president, and the mayor's staff provides the phone number, because the firefighters want to raise taxes to preserve their benefits. 

Let's be clear: The firefighters, like Ladra, know that there does not have to be any tax increase because the council is squandering funds elsewhere. Like with no-bid contracts (about $1 million in the last meeting alone), some of which go to companies or people who make campaign contributions. Like the created positions for cronies and lackies, some of which just got "salary adjustments" -- including one mayor's aide that went from $1,776 a month to $2,884 a month. Would the mayor need to raise taxes for these things? The firefighters, like Ladra, know that there do not have to be any new taxes in order to maintain staffing levels where they are, which are already insufficient to cover a city of 220,000 residents that swells to a population of 500,000 during the weekday. This "tax increase" argument is a scare tactic used to bully and smear the firefighters even more.

But su alcaldito has to say that. He has no defense, no excuse for his threat to cut 40 percent of the firefighter paramedic personnel. It is threat and it is extortion because both he and the council president, Isis "Guttermouth Girl" Garcia-Martinez have publicly said that if the union were to make concessions -- not negotiate, but just take the concessions the city wants to force on them -- there would not be anybody fired. Really? Is that even legal? Let's rewind to July 20, when it was the city that declared impasse on the union not even two hours into negotiations. And they had planned it. The impasse document was prepared beforehand and brought into the meeting -- which shows a total lack of good faith. The city went into those negotiations clearly intending to declare impasse (and they will lose again when this is legally brought to the state board that oversees public employee relations).

This is just political payback because the union backed his opponent, former mayor Raul Martinez, in this November election and his mentor/master Julio Robaina's  opponent, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez. Otherwise why would Hernandez distribute an old newspaper article about past hostilities between the firefighters and Martinez at his press conference about the budget? What does that have to do with the 2011-2012 allocation of funds?

By the way, Mayor Gimenez, why are you so silent on this? Won't this affect county services, too? Aren't you representing Hialeah citizens also, Mr. "Mayor for All"? Wasn't this a group that backed you and helped you get elected?

For that matter, where are the other elected leaders that represent and speak for this community? I contacted Miami-Dade Commissioner Esteban Bovo, State Sen. Rene Garcia (R, District 40) and State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez (R, District 102) -- all of them former Hialeah council members who are quite easy to find in the City of Progress during election season -- before the first budget hearing last week and asked if they were going to go. I have yet to hear back from any of them. I guess election season for them is too far off.

So let's call their offices, too, to see what they think.

• Gimenez can be reached at 305-375-5071 or mayor@miamidade.gov
• Garcia can be reached at 305-824-5058 or at 305-364-3100 and his district office is at 3814 W. 12th Ave, just above the campaign office for su alcaldito and the incumbents minus one
• Gonzalez can be reached in Tallahassee at 850-488-1683 or his district office in Hialeah Gardens, 10001 NW 87th Ave., 305-364-3066.
  

Ladra wonders if they will redirect calls to the firefighters or the Hialeah mayor's office, where the blame really lies.

Sasha, Alex: Unlikely cafecito pals

Sasha Tirador hunting for
clients at a recent meeting.

Who would have thought that the two warring sides in the Hialeah elections could sit down to a cafecito at Chico's on West 12th Avenue over race relations? Not Ladra.

But that is what happened Saturday afternoon when former councilman and candidate Alex Morales -- who is running on an anti-incumbent slate and platform -- met with absentee ballot queen Sasha Tirador, who worked for former mayor Julio Robaina's failed county mayoral bid and is now on the staff for four of the five incumbents (proving again that councilwoman Vivian Casals-Muñoz has been made an outsider). Both said they had been longtime friends and brushed off the meeting as if it was nothing unusual -- even though each said the other had called it.

But Ladra is pacing and growling, anyway.

Julio Martinez, Raul Martinez and Alex Morales at a
recent city council meeting.

Morales is in an open seat and Tirador said she is helping his last minute challenger, former Housing Authority board member Lourdes Lozano, who everyone knows was planted in the race by the mayor. The professor said she told him at the time that she was not helping Lozano, but he is also running on a slate with former mayor Raul Martinez, former mayor Julio Martinez, former councilwoman Cindy Miel and former police officer and Hialeah Housing Authority official Danny Bolaños. Tirador is representing the incumbents in three of those races: Alcaldito Carlos Hernandez, Council President Isis "Guttermouth Girl" Garcia-Martinez and Councilman Jose Caragol.  She says she is also working for Pablito "Huh" Hernandez and "helping" Lozano, who is not an official client, run against Morales, her "old friend," and force him into a runoff. She says she is not representing gun dealer and permit-smirker Tony Vega in the challenge against Casals-Muñoz, where Bolaños is running. "I will not represent Tony Vega. At least, I don't think so." But Ladra doesn't believe that she is going to work on everybody in the incumbent slate except Vega? We think Tirador is out to get Vivian (more on that later) and that Vega and Hernandez are becoming allies before our very eyes and, so, I can't help but think that Tirador will be collecting iffy absentee ballots for Vega, too.

One of the reasons I believe she is working, or advocating, for Vega is because one of the anonymous facebook profiles that have been attacking Bolaños and Martinez -- and, most recently, me -- sent me a personal message late last night with inside details about the cafecito meeting. "The conversation was really intimate of a classified nature... cozy and honest," wrote "Ernesto Mirabal," which is not the real user of the facebook page that used to be known as Hialeah First. It is the name of the man that Martinez had a physical altercation with on the Palmetto Expressway some years ago, an episode we will come back to later since it will become part of the smear campaign. The anonymous author (read: Vega or one of his campaigners) wrote that Morales had tried to distance himself from Bolaños, who had the weakest showing of the Back to the Future campaign slate in the firefighters' poll. "Even the signs are distanced and never on the same pole. He thinks the only ones that can win are Frank Lago and him out of his whole slate. Even Raul is not where he wants to be. Food for thought. Ask him."

Always a skeptic, Ladra did ask. Even though Lago is not on the slate -- not yet, anyway. Both he and "Daring" Daisy Castellanos were at the grand opening of the Martinez/Morales/Bolaños campaign office Sunday afternoon and Martinez mentioned both candidates' names in his platform speech.

Morales, who would never say that Martinez is not in the lead (c'mon, he is a very smart guy) and has consistently told me to watch as every incumbent is unseated in November, said he said no such thing. But he really didn't have to. He's not stupid, after all. He is the professor for something. And while he may have been dismayed early on by the numbers in that poll, Morales has been supporting Bolaños for months and says his momentum has increased tremendously. They've walked together and put up signs together. Many of their signs are posted side by side on fences and in yards. "I have put Danny's signs up and he's put up my signs. I have put my signs together with his. We have made the decision to support each other." Besides, he knew that Tirador called him with some ruse about housing authority campaign rules so she could try to get some intel on the strength of the bonds between the slate mates. "She was there to obtain information on our slate and how committed we are. And I told her we were very committed," Morales said. Tirador confirmed that. "Alex Morales made it very clear that he was supporting Danny," she said.

But Tirador also told Ladra they met so the professor could get her professional assessment. "I have known Alex Morales since I was 14 and I'm 37. He was asking me for advice," she said. I had to ask: Advice about what? "That's a private matter between Alex and I. I've never had any issues with Alex Morales. Why shouldn't I talk with him? We were jut picking each others brains." It was so cordial, in fact, they walked over to Morales' parents' bakery in the same shopping strip and he gave her a tres leches.

"I met with Alex Morales because there is no reason I shouldn't meet with Alex Morales and it's not like the first time we are on opposite sides that we meet anyway," Tirador told me. "Just because you're on opposite sides doesn't mean you can't meet and pick each others' brains." Well, wait. Was he asking you for advice or were you picking each other's brains?

And, yeah, just because you are on opposite sides does kind of mean that you can't meet to pick each others' brains. Or you can't meet and expect everyone to think it was on the up and up. Most people I know would think it was odd. Like Martinez, who does not trust Tirador since she was accused of tampering with absentee ballots during his failed congressional run against Lincoln Diaz-Balart in 2008. (She was investigated, but the case was closed because while there was evidence that tampering occurred, they could not prove it was her doing).  Martinez was apparently not happy about the meeting.  "I told Alex, 'Why in the world would you want to meet with that individual? Sometimes, he thinks he's too smart. I love him, but I want to kill him sometimes," said Martinez, who will only admit to supporting Morales, Bolanos and the other Martinez "because I want Caragol out of there." Miel has to try harder if she wants his active support, he said. (More on that later).

But all this proves, Martinez said, is that the incumbent side that Tirador works for is trying to cause a rift or break within the Back to the Future cast. And, Ladra said, it proves that Martinez is not always completely in control of his crew.

Hialeah's padded, bogus budget

The proposed 2011-2012 Hialeah budget is an almost two inches thick and divided into sections that lay out the plan to operate the city's departments and services with $263.4 million.

But it is so full of holes that it shouldn't weigh as much as it does.

Only about $115.6 million is in the general fund, the rest of that is in capital projects funds ($4.8 million all for Milander Park, which is one improvement plan that has to be audited and/or investigated come Nov. 17), special revenue funds -- grants like Children's Trust and affordable housing, transit monies and fire rescue transportation -- and enterprise funds, like solid waste and the cash cow Water and Sewer, with a $103.4 million budget that the city keeps dipping into to cover expenses, we suspect (more on that later). So let's concentrate for now on the general fund, which is where mayoral stand-in Carlos Hernandez plans to extract close to $7 million from the fire department by firing 105 firefighters and paramedics.

Let's pretend this is not political backlash and retribution for the endorsement of his challenger, former Mayor Raul Martinez, which came one day before the alcaldito announced his plans to cut the fire rescue personnel by 40 percent and distributed a an article of past hostilities between the fire union and the Dark Prince (a bitter pill to swallow for many firefighters who remember the former mayor's hardline with them in his administration). Let's pretend it is not blatant retaliation for the union's consistent legal victories that have found the city time and time again to practice unfair labor laws and which have cost the taxpayers millions of dollars in fines, legal costs and overtime. Let's pretend it is not a pathetic example of blackmail as the council and administration extort the firefighters by saying the terminations could be stopped if they just swallow whatever concessions the mayor demands, rather than sit at a table and, in good faith, find ways to compromise on items that can lead to savings for the taxpayers, as the firefighters have offered. (We really cannot believe this is even legal for them to do this). Let's pretend it is not a campaign ploy in a desperate attempt to keep his $190,000 job and VIP pension -- because the council members get pension, too, and preferential treatment (more on that later).

Let's pretend, also, that any one of those council members actually read the budget and all its glorious chapters and line-by-line itemizations. I say pretend because it is plainly clear that the Seguro Que Yes crew either did not read the budget or did not understand it. And I can understand that. Ladra is not a financial genius by any means, and this budget is not an easy thing to get through (so I cannot imagine either council member Pablito "Huh" Hernandez or Katherine "I sleep here and there" Cue getting the fine details). But there are definitely some questions that council members should have asked if they had been paying any attention to where the budget director, Alex Vega, is hiding the money. Instead, they stare blankly as others ask the questions they should be asking. Like why the budget does not reflect the $10 million that the city has twice been ordered to pay the general employees for a grievance the general employee union won and that the city is still appealing, at more legal costs to taxpayers. It doesn't reflect that almost certain debt. Like why there are more than 32 additional positions (read: ghost workers to pad the budget) budgeted in the water and sewer department? Like why the revenues reflected for monies owed to the city from the county for overpayment on water and sewer fees are zero when there should be revenues there. After Martinez asked about it at the budget hearing , department director Armando Vidal said that he did not know why that line item had a zero. Because it shouldn't be. It was a classic moment that perfectly illustrated how bogus and ridiculously falsified this budget is.

Still, there are more questions that the council should have asked. Especially before they voted to pass a bogus budget that calls for the firing of 105 of 271 firefighter paramedics based on economic hardship that, if you look elsewhere in the budget, doesn't seem to really exist.

Let's start with some positions that we want to know more about before we cut one single first responder from our fire rescue personnel. The "budget in stages" calls for the first 14 to be unemployed as of Oct. 1. They already got their letters from human resources about Sept 30 being their last day. But I found 14 or so other jobs that maybe should be eliminated instead. Maybe these positions are crucial. Maybe they are the botellas that they seem to be. This was admittedly found in a very quick and shallow look at the budget by Ladra, a dog who really doesn't know what she is looking for. And we don't have names attached to the budget, which is a shame since we would really like to know who these people are and what they do. But we will ask.

The director of the department of education and community service, for example, makes $91,000 and a "recreational supervisor" in the same department and a "recreational special programs supervisor" make about $68,000 each. Who are these people and what do they do? And are the two supervising jobs so different that we need two? And then a third, really, if you count "education special programs director" budgeted at $48,800 (there are already two education center directors getting paid a total of $52,000 between them; couldn't they handle "special programs"? Especially when the budget already has a $37,400-a-year "communications and special events supervisor"? And, then, wait, why is there also a "recreation programs supervisor" making $60,000 at the parks and recreation department. Is that different than the "recreational special programs supervisor" in education and community service? Some of these positions seem repetitive. Soon, we are going to need a coordinator to coordinate all these people and their jobs.

There is also a "literacy program director" (I kid you not) with $54,000 a year salary and a "sponsorship coordinator" with a salary of $37,600. The number of "community development representatives" grew from one to four for a combined $91,100. That's three new positions. There is also a "mayor's liaison" with a $38,000 salary -- a new reward, er, I mean position, probably, for either Jonathan Martinez or Arnie Alonso, who each spent much time campaigning for former mayor Julio Robaina's failed county mayoral bid and will likely waste much of their taxpayer-paid time doing the same thing for their new boss -- where 25 percent of the salary comes out four different departments: the code enforcement, occupational license, building and planning and zoning departments. Neither one would tell me when I asked what their new reward jobs were. There's another position, one not budgeted last year, that is paid from two different accounts: a "purchasing/property director" with an $80,000 salary -- 25 percent of which comes out of the office of management and budget and 75 percent of which comes out of "affordable housing fund." Another new position is the building official, a title to which the senior building plan processor was promoted, with a salary of $96,000. This person's former salary in the last position, where he or she was performing these duties, is not listed in the budget because it is eliminated. So, basically, this person was promoted, it seems. Wonder if it was a big raise.

These are great positions to be able to have in a city government, but maybe not at the price of 40 percent of the first responders who safeguard the residents lives for an average of $70,000. I have asked for a finer salary breakdown in the department, as some supporters of this dangerous and absurd proposal to cut two out of every five allegedly overpaid firefighters have suggested, and I expect to get those public records faster than I get most documents that I requested (have waited more than a week to see personnel records for Martinez and Alonso, and I bet that won't come as quickly). But the proposed budget does reflect that the fire chief, who has been awfully silent about this plan to cut 40 percent of his staff, makes $131,000 and the assistant chief make $114,000. Three battalion chiefs make $364,720 between them, so that's about $121,500 each and four division chiefs making about $105,00 each. But none of these top management employees are going to get fired, I bet. Not that they should. These are enviable salaries, sure, but these people are in those positions because they have worked for decades and climbed up the civil ladder and they make policy and operational decisions that affect hundreds of workers and hundreds of thousands of residents. And if we are going to size them up, it would be smart to compare them to, say, the police chief's salary and fire chief salaries across the county and/or state for cities of similar size and population.

And while they seem like very high salaries at first glance, it's not that much when you realize that the mayor makes $190,000 a year to dole out political favors to his campaign contributors and use the office and bully pulpit to campaign for election -- not re-election since he was never elected to this position. It's not that much when you realize that executive salaries in the city clerk's office are projected to rise by $41, 342. Yes, they have a new office coordinator at $35,300 but lost a records manager who makes $35,900 (transferred to the building department for whatever reason). And the department has a new administrative aide for $26,600 but they lost a clerk/typist and a print shop technician. So two new staffers, three other positions gone is a net loss of one position. There should be an overall decrease, no?

There are so many questions about this budget, in fact, that one has to wonder if Vega, the man who wrote it for the mayor and makes $118,000 a year to play a funny money shell game for their political friends and aspirations, is overpaid.

Hialeah: Campaign $ before safety

Hialeah's alcaldito Carlos Hernandez and his yes council would have people believe that they have to fire almost half the city's firefighter paramedics to balance the budget without raising taxes. But a closer look at the city's checkbook may indicate that what they really want is to take money from the fire department budget so they can keep on doling out millions in no-bid contracts and purchase order increases for their friends and campaign contributors.

On the agenda for tonight's meeting, two days before they consider firing 40 percent of the 270 firefighters that currently serve more than 220,000 residents, there are several items that are worth questioning. They include more than a dozen requests to waive the competitive bidding process -- which guarantees fair, not inflated prices, and an open, level playing field -- for a total of more than $800,000, which includes one for Maguire Group for inspections that have already been done on the water pump that cost the city double because it wasn't done right the first time. Maguire Group, its officers and their other companies contributed at least $4,300 to the failed Julio Robaina county mayoral campaign -- and, Ladra is willing to wager, we'll see some contributions to the current candidates on the dais (which is the long podium they sit at for meetings, for that person who did not recognize the word).

Additionally, there is a "change order" for contracts with two other companies (probably no bid contracts, also) that contributed to the Robaina campaign: Acosta Tractors ($175,000) and Overland Carriers (doesn't say how much the change is, but the contract total is $2.1 million so I bet it's at least a six-figure figure). Acosta Tractors and its related officers and companies donated $2,000 in four bundled maximum $500 contributions. Overland just $1,000 that I could find so far, but its harder than it looks to trace these contributions back and connect them to bundles. And I haven't even started to look at the seven or eight PACs that supported Robaina that might have also benefited from these benevolent city vendors.

This is how the city administration misspends your hard-earned taxes, Hialeah. Watch them as they raise no questions and rubber-stamp every no-bid contract and every change order. Council President Isis "Guttergirl" Garcia-Martinez might even give her nod with her signature enthusiastic "Absolutely!" -- just in case there is any question of how she really feels.

Then Thursday, do not let the council blame the city's hard-working employees for their own financial mismanagement and cut half of the city's firefighters and paramedics so that they can keep on doling out funds to their campaign contributors.

That's pathetic. And it should be criminal.